Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to shaft-based surgical forceps and methods of manufacturing shaft-based surgical forceps.
Background of Related Art
A forceps or hemostat is a plier-like instrument which relies on mechanical action between its jaws to grasp, clamp, and constrict tissue. Energy-based forceps utilize both mechanical clamping action and energy, e.g., electrosurgical energy, ultrasonic energy, light energy, microwave energy, heat, etc., to affect hemostasis by heating tissue to treat, e.g., coagulate, cauterize, and/or seal, tissue.
Shaft-based forceps typically employ a shaft having a handle at a proximal end thereof and a pair of jaw members at a distal end thereof. A drive assembly extending through the shaft operably couples the handle with the jaw members such that actuation of the handle moves one or both of the jaw members relative to the other to grasp tissue therebetween.
As the dimensions of shaft-based forceps are minimized, the sizes of the components disposed therein are also minimized, requiring that these components be capable of withstanding greater tolerances. Thus, there is presented a design challenge of providing a suitably small shaft-based forceps while reducing the tolerances of the components disposed therein to acceptable levels.